60 photos from White Night 2024: the art, the lasers and the crowds

Organisers estimated 65,000 people attended the free open-air art festival, with clear but cold conditions making the open fires on Doveton Street appealing.

The event held a lot of promise, with more than 40,000 people visiting during the 2019 iteration.

Ballarat resident Eva Micich said the night was an opportunity for her family to have fun.

Her son was particularly excited about the lasers, which shone between the Post Office Building, the Train Station, St Andrews Church and Town Hall.

They could be seen across the precinct and were a highlight for White Night artistic director Andrew Walsh.

Sylvia Lee was also drawn to the event because of her family, her child Emma wanted to attend and see the lights.

Others like Sree Sridharan made the hour trip down the highway from Melbourne with his extended family.

"We wanted to experience what it was like," he said.

They were rugged up for the cold evening, which started out at eight degrees and dropped down to six degrees by midnight.

There was a small amount of rain just after 6pm.

While the building facades were a highlight - particularly the trompe d'oeil making the Art Gallery of Ballarat collapse onto itself before being rebuilt - there were also installations in Civic Hall and the Mining Exchange.

Live music at the Town Hall and near the station also attracted crowds.

Tracey Reid was a return visitor, attending White Night when it was last held in Ballarat.

"We really enjoyed it last time," Ms Reid said.

She had dinner first before enjoying the lights.

"The restaurants seem busy which is good for the town. There are heaps of places open so I hope they do really well."

A majority of the restaurants in the precinct were open and had a steady flow of people, with many setting up tents and extra outdoor tables for al fresco diners.

From 5.30pm, before the lights started, there were long lines at the food trucks in Doveton Street.

In 2024, the White Night precinct was bigger than previous years.

While there were installations scattered throughout this year, a majority of the building projections were on Camp, Lydiard and Sturt Streets, though the massive Josh Muir artwork covered the Dawson Street and Sturt Street intersection, projected onto shipping containers.

Carolynne and Wayne Smith had also attended other White Night events in Ballarat.

They said this year did not live up to their expectations.

They said it either felt like it was too spread out or there was less artwork and were underwhelmed.

Many residents took advantage of the free buses, and Ms Smith parked at the Aquatic Centre around 5.40pm and there was already a long line for the bus into the CBD.

"There were a lot of people up there waiting to use the bus, which is good," she said.

The 7.30pm bus was also standing room only, with people coming into the city and returning home.

The White Night event is owned by the state government's tourism and events company, Visit Victoria.

When The Courier asked questions about how much it costs to host the event in Ballarat, the state government said the event budget was commercial in confidence.

When in Ballarat on May 13, tourism minister Steve Dimopoulos said he expected White Night 2024 to get to that level of visitors "and more this time around".

"Everything we do, whatever we spend, has a real economic return for the visitor economy and for the regions we're investing in," he said.